The invention relates to rotisserie devices of the type which comprise vertically stacked, arcuate heating elements having a vertical line focus wherein a rotatable spit is mounted. A foodstuff such as meat is usually impaled on the vertically disposed spit and caused to rotate in opposed relation to the heating element, the heating element effectively focusing heat thereon to evenly cook said meat. Drippings from meat or other foodstuffs being so roasted fall downwardly at right angles to the heating elements rather than onto the heating elements as is the case in non-vertical rotisseries.
Prior vertical rotisseries can generally be exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,341, issued to me, wherein a vertically-disposed rotatable spit holds a large portion of meat for roasting by focused radiant heat in a vertical plane. The present rotisserie exhibits substantial advantages over the device of my prior patent. In particular, a certain degree of skill is necessary to carve equal portions from the prior device without removal of the spit from the device. With the present device, exact portions of the food to be roasted are pre-cut and mounted about the periphery of disc-like platforms, which platforms are mounted on a central shaft, or spit, and rotate with the shaft. Additionally, the individual portions are caused to sequentially rotate relative to the platform in order to evenly cook the portions.
Given the general structure outlined, it can be seen and will be seen in light of the following detailed description of the invention that a primary object of the invention is to provide a vertical rotisserie particularly suited for table top use wherein individual portions of a foodstuff can be roasted on rotating disc-like platforms, the portions themselves intermittantly and sequentially rotating relative to the platform to evenly cook said portions.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a motor driven rotisserie wherein the motor is mounted in continuous engagement with the rotating shaft carrying the circular platforms, so that the motor does not have to be connected and disconnected when changing from manual to powered rotation of the shaft.
It is another object of the invention to provide a rotisserie wherein the heating can be graduated along the length of the rotisserie spit so that foodstuffs are different zones along the spit may be roasted to different degrees, the foodstuffs in the case of meats additionally being self-basting due to their vertical orientation.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a rotisserie wherein certain of the vertically arranged heating elements can be turned off when foodstuffs on that platform opposing said heating elements are removed.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a rotisserie wherein certain of the vertically arranged heating elements can be quickly removed from the rotisserie for repair and replaced by a new heating element with a minimum of disruption to the complete cooking operation.
Other objects include structural provisions for directing drippings from the roasting foodstuffs to centrally located collection means and structural provision for removing the cooking platforms from the rotating shaft without the need for removing the shaft from the rotisserie, which objects and additional objects will become better understood and known in light of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.